Evacuees Reflect on Cocos Fire

NBC 7's Omari Fleming reports on the latest details of the Cocos Fire in San Marcos, and speaks with evacuees about their experiences.

(Published Saturday, May 17, 2014)

As of 6 p.m. Saturday, evacuation orders had been lifted for all areas affected by the Cocos Fire except for the Coronado Hills Community of San Marcos.

City officials said residents of the deeply impacted Harmony Grove Spiritual Association area were able to return home, but needed to have some proof of residency in hand when attempting to enter their neighborhoods. Officials expected to have all evacuations and closures lifted by Sunday.

Photos: San Diego Firestorm 2014

Fire officials said the Cocos Fire was 85 percent contained as of Saturday morning. The blaze -- which began Wednesday afternoon -- scorched 1,995 acres and consumed more than three dozen structures in its path, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate.

Here's the repopulation map, as released Saturday night. The areas in green signified neighborhoods where evacuations had been lifted, while the light pink area was the zone where evacuations remained in place as of Saturday evening. As of Sunday morning, the whole map was green.